Clip for flexible sheet



Dec. 28, 1965 H. B. DANIELS 3,225,407

CLIP FOR FLEXIBLE SHEET Filed March 31, 1964 Inventor a F G H MPHREY B. DANIELS By v y Attorneys United States Patent 3,225,407 CLIP FOR FLEXIBLE SHEET Humphrey Barrymore Daniels, Surbiton, Surrey, England, assignor of one-half to Transatlantic Plastics Limited, Surbiton, Surrey, England, a British company Filed Mar. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 356,225 7 Claims. (Cl. 24243) This invention relates to a clip for holding flexible sheet material so that it will not slip even under very heavy tension.

Flexible sheet material, particularly synthetic plastic sheet, is being increasingly used for many purposes, for example, covering parts of buildings during initial erection or repair, and since sheets of increasingly larger dimensions are becoming available the scope for the use of such sheets is increasing. Consequently there is a requirement for a clip or holder by which such sheet material may be gripped to enable it to be attached to supports. It is possible to fix retaining members, such as eyelets or riveted-on metal strips, to sheets, but these limit the points at which the sheet may be gripped and, moreover, the making of holes through the sheet always produces weak points, so that the sheet is liable in time to tear away at the holes.

Accordingly one object of the invention is to provide a clip which may be attached to flexible sheet material which will not slip under heavy tension and which requires no holes in the sheet for its attachment.

Another object is to provide a clip which may easily be attached to flexible sheet material, which requires no tools for its attachment and which may easily be removed, leaving the sheet undamaged.

It is important that a clip of the nature outlined above shall be easily made at low cost. Accordingly, it is a further object of the invention to provide a clip for sheet material consisting of a shell and a core in which both the shell and the cone may be made from lengths of extruded synthetic plastic material.

A still further object is to provide a clip which is readily attachable t-o flexible sheet material and which contains means enabling it to be anchored to other bodies.

As broadly claimed the invention consists of a clip for sheet material comprising a shell composed of a rear flange and first and second members, the first member having the same width as the flange and extending forwardly therefrom to one side of the plane thereof, the first member having its end curved inwardly towards and through the plane of the flange to an angle exceeding 180 and having its extreme end formed with a lip so that when viewed from the side it is similar to the top of a shepherds crook, the second member having the same width as the first member and extending forwardly from the flange on the other side of the said plane and having its end curved away from the first member, and a core composed of a strip of material adapted to have sheet mater1al wrapped around it and to be inserted edgewise into the shell between the first and second members, the sheet extending out of the clip through the space between the first and second member, so that when tension is applied to the sheet the front edge of the core and the sheet wrapped therearound are pulled into the curved end portion of the first member and the sheet is firmly gripped.

The shell may be made of sheet metal, in which case the first and second members may be separate, each having a flange formed at its rear, the two flanges being fastened together to form the shell. Alternatively these two members may be made of extruded or moulded synthetic plastic material. In a preferred form of the invention the complete shell is formed as a synthetic plastic extrusion.

3,225,407 Patented Dec. 28, 1965 The core may have beaded edges and it may be of metal or of synthetic plastic material, and it is preferably made longer than the width of the shell, so that when in position inside the shell its ends protrude to form finger grips which enable the core to be extracted. The flange may be provided with holes or other means for anchoring it to other bodies.

Further objects, advantages and features of the invention will become evident after reading the description of a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the shell when made as an extruded synthetic plastic section;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the core;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the shell with the core in position, on a smaller scale than FIGURES 1 and 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a side view, on a larger scale than FIG- URE 3, showing the core inside the shell gripping a piece of sheet material.

Referring to the drawings, a clip for sheet material according to the invention comprises a shell composed of a rear flange 11, a first member 12 and a second member 13. The members 1 2 and 13 may be separate, each having a flange portion, similar to the flange 11, formed upon it and the two members may be riveted or otherwise fastened together, but in the embodiment shown the complete shell is a piece of synthetic plastic extruded material which has been cut off to a desired length. The first member 12 extends forwardly from the flange 11 to one side of the plane of the flange and its end 14 is curved inwardly towards and through the plane of the flange to an angle exceeding and it has a lip 15 formed at its extreme end. When viewed from the side, as in FIG- URE 4, the appearance of the end portion is reminiscent of the top of a shepherds crook. The second member 13 is, of course, of the same width as the first member and also extends forwardly from the flange 11 but on the other side of the plane thereof. It has its end portion 16 curved away from the first member 12. A hole 22 is formed in the flange -11 to enable the shell to be anchored to some other object, and it is to be understood that any other means of anchoring the shell may be provided if desired.

FIGURE 2 shows a core, consisting of a flat portion 17 having beaded edges, respectively 18 and 19, which is also made of extruded synthetic plastic and is cut to a length greater than the width of the shell, as shown in FIGURE 3, which is a plan view of the shell with the core inside it. The object of making the core longer than the width of the shell is to ensure that the ends project to form finger grips by which the core may be manipulated into and out of the shell. The core may be inserted edgewise into the shell through the gap between the curved end 16 and the lip 15. The ends 20 and 21 of the core are rounded.

FIGURE 4 shows how the clip may be used. A piece of sheet 23, for example polythene sheet, is wrapped around the core and is inserted upwardly and leftwardly in FIGURE 4 into the shell until the bead 18 rests against the bottom 24 of the gap between the first and second members 12 and 13. The bead 19 of the core may then be pushed through the gap between the curved end 16 of the second member and the lip 15 of the first member. A pull on the sheet 23 then causes the bead 19 to be pulled forwardly into the curved end 14 of the first member. The sheet 23 is now held with absolute security and the greater the pull placed upon it, the more secure is the grip. Generally the sheet will tear before the grip is loosened. The rounding of the ends of the core at 20 and 21 helps to ensure that when tension is placed on the sheet there are no sharp edges to tear the sheet.

In the manufacture of the extrusion for the shell, the curved end 14 is preferably formed so that the internal radius is no greater than, or even less than, the radius of the bead 19, so that as the bead 19 with the sheet 23 wrapped around it is pulled into the inner radius of the curved .end 14 the curved end is expanded slightly, to ensure that the sheet is gripped around the whole of the contour of the bead 19. It will be noted that when the sheet is under tension the core is substantially in alignment with the flange of the shell.

To remove the sheet from the clip it is only necessary to grip the two finger pieces formed by the protruding ends of the core and press them back until the bead 18 is pushed into the end 24 of the shell, then to move the bead 19 downwardly and remove the core. Alternatively, removal of the sheet may be effected by gripping the said protruding ends, pressing the core towards the end 24 of the shell and then sliding the core and the sheet part around it lengthwise of the core.

From a reading of the foregoing specification it will be seen that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A clip for sheet material comprising a shell composed of a rear flange and first and second members arranged to extend forwardly of said rear flange, said first member being of the same width as said flange and extending forwardly therefrom on one side of the plane of said flange, said first member having a front portion thereof curved inwardly through an angle exceeding 180 towards and through the said plane of said flange, the extreme end of said curved front portion being formed with a lip so that, when viewed from the side, said first member is similar to the top of a shepherds crook, said second member being of the same width as said first member and extending forwardly from said flange on the other side of the said plane, said second member having a forward end portion thereof curved away from said first member and said plane, and a core composed of a strip of material adapted to have sheet material wrapped around it and to be inserted edgewise into said shell through a slot-like gap defined by said lip of said first member and said forward end of said second member, said core being unattached to said shell and being of a width greater than the width of said slot-like gap whereby the rear portion of said core is seated on said forward end portion of said second member, said sheet extending out of said clip from between said forward end portion of said second member and said core portion seated thereon so that, when tension is applied to said sheet, the front edge of said core and said sheet wrapped therearound are pulled into said curved front portion of said first member and said sheet is firmly gripped.

2. A clip as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shell and said core are each made of extruded synthetic plastic material.

3. A clip as claimed in claim 1 in which the length of said core is greater than the width of said shell, so that the ends of said core protrude from said shell to provide finger grips.

4. A clip as claimed in claim 1 in which said flange is provided with means enabling it to be anchored to other bodies.

5. A clip as claimed in claim 1 in which said core is provided with beaded edges.

6. A clip as claimed in claim 1 in which the inner radius in the curved end of said first member is no greater than, or smaller than, the radius of the beaded edge of said core.

7. A clip as claimed in claim 1 in which said shell and said core are so shaped that when the sheet being gripped is under tension said core is substantially in alignment with the flange of said shell.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,390,608 9/ 1921 Fleming 24--72.5 1,484,382 2/ 1924 Allitt. 2,470,811 5/ 1949 Engleman 24--81 2,526,912 10/1950 Swanson -392 X 2,629,432 2/ 1953 Hanslick 160402 2,954,200 9/1960 Gannon et a1 2473 X FOREIGN PATENTS 187,877 12/1956 Austria.

331,231 1/1921 Germany.

623,700 5/1949 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. DONLEY J. STOCKING, Examiner.

D. GRIFFIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CLIP FOR SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING A SHELL COMPOSED OF A REAR FLANGE AND FIRST AND SECOND MEMBERS ARRANGED TO EXTEND FORWARDLY OF SAID REAR FLANGE, SAID FIRST MEMBER BEING OF THE SAME WIDTH AS SAID FLANGE, SAID EXTENDING FORWARDLY THEREFROM ON ONE SIDE OF THE PLANE OF SAID FLANGE, SAID FIRST MEMBER HAVING A FRONT PORTION THEREOF CURVED INWARDLY THROUGH AN ANGLE EXCEEDING 180* TOWARDS AND THROUGH THE SAID PLANE OF SAID FLANGE, THE EXTREME END OF SAID CURVED FRONT PORTION BEING FORMED WITH A LIP SO THAT, WHEN VIEWED FROM THE SIDE, SAID FIRST MEMBER IS SIMILAR TO THE TOP OF A SHEPHERS''S CROOK, SAID SECOND MEMBER BEING OF THE SAME WIDTH AS SAID FIRST MEMBER AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM SAID FLANGE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SAID PLANE, SAID SECOND MEMBER HAVING A FORWARD END PORTION THEREOF CURVED AWAY FROM SAID FIRST MEMBER AND SAID PLANE, AND A CORE COMPOSED OF A STRIP OF MATERIAL ADAPTED TO HAVE SHEET MATERIAL WRAPPED AROUND IT AND TO BE INSERTED EDGEWISE INTO SAID SHELL THROUGH A SLOT-LIKE GAP DEFINED BY SAID LIP OF SAID FIRST MEMBER AND SAID FORWARD END OF SAID SECOND MEMBER, SAID CORE BEING UNATTACHED TO SAID SHELL AND BEING OF A WIDTH GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID SLOT-LIKE GAP WHEREBY THE REAR PORTION OF SAID CORE IS SEATED ON SAID FORWARD END PORTION OF SAID SECOND MEMBER, SAID SHEET EXTENDING OUT OF SAID CLIP FROM BETWEEN SAID FORWARD END PORTION OF SAID SECOND MEMBER AND SAID CORE PORTION SEATED THEREON SO THAT, WHEN TENSION IS APPLIED TO SAID SHEET, THE FRONT EDGE OF SAID CORE AND SAID SHEET WRAPPED THEREAROUND ARE PULLED INTO SAID CURVED FRONT PORTION OF SAID FIRST MEMBER AND SAID SHEET IS FIRMLY GRIPPED. 